All the usual favourites are inside, such as The Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger, Billy Whizz, Minnie the Minx and of course Dennis and Gnasher. There's another Pup Parade mini-strip by me too!
With so few British mainstream comics left now it's good to know that the Beano's sales have increased every year over the past few years. I'm sure they could sell a lot more if more newsagents stocked it. I meet a lot of readers at conventions, but I also meet an equal amount who have either never heard of the Beano or thought it ended years ago! I think if more corner shops stocked it, awareness of the comic would increase. After all, I'm guessing that most of us, like me, had our first comics bought us from the local newsagent... then when we were old enough to buy our own comics, it'd be those corner shops where we mainly visited.
Of course, no one can convince local newsagents to stock comics if they don't want to. As my local retailer said, he can make more money using shelf space to sell booze, so why should he expand the magazine shelves? However, perhaps instead of using that limited space to stock 10 different nursery comics that don't shift, perhaps one could be dropped to try out the Beano?
Thing is, as my newsagent told me, he no longer calls the shots on which magazines he stocks. The suppliers decide which ones he should try, and they change what he receives on a whim. Times have changed from the days when you could ask "Mr.Newsagent" to reserve your comics every week. It's a miracle that any comic survives, so we should celebrate the ones we still have instead of wistfully wishing for the golden age to return.
If the newsagent doesn't choose what they stock, then it's not the newsagent that needs convincing, it's the supplier. The system is broken, the shops should be ordering what they know they can sell, the suppliers shouldn't be calling the shots!
ReplyDeleteAgreed, but that's how it is now. Comics are treated like brands of baked beans. "Here, try this one instead."
ReplyDeleteI think I was one of the few that still had my local newsagent save me a copy of Beano, Dandy (when it was still going) and Viz. They never stocked The Beano on the shelves but always saved me a copy as they knew I always bought it, saved them for me when I was on holiday and even held on to the final issue of The Dandy for me when there was demand on the day for it. Sadly they shut last December amso now I just have a subscription with Beano and Viz.
ReplyDeleteMy local newsagent still has a 2012 Olympics sticker book starter pack on his shelf! If anyone ever did buy it now, they wouldn't be able to get the stickers for it... and half the people in it have retired!
ReplyDelete"As my local retailer said, he can make more money using shelf space to sell booze, so why should he expand the magazine shelves? "... which probably explains the problems with alcohol abuse and poor literacy in the country nowadays!